8
" It's a shame your mother didn't opt for something more extravagant," Akiko says, examining her nails.
"When you get married, please make sure there are at least some guests to see our dresses. This is a waste of Oscar de la Renta," Noriko adds, glancing down meaningfully.
"Thank you," I say sincerely. "For all you did for us. For my mom. For me." I regard them intently, liquid gathering in my eyes.
"It's not a big deal," Akiko says with a sniff, clearly uncomfortable.
Human emotions. So messy.
"Um," Noriko says to Akiko. "I think she's going to try to hug us."
Before they can object, I wrap them up in my arms, embracing them both. Akiko pats my back awkwardly, and Noriko is stiff. "I love you," I say, releasing them. "And I know you love me, too. "
― Emiko Jean , Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2)
10
" Being one of the few Asian people in Mount Shasta had its drawbacks. I never felt like I fit in."
He blinks. "Do you feel like you fit in Japan?"
"Sometimes, yes. Sometimes, no." It's hard to shake the feeling of otherness, telling me I am a tourist in my own life. Growing up in America, Princess Izumi will never be truly Japanese, an imperial biographer recently wrote. I faced the same in Mount Shasta. Izumi will never be truly American.
Truth? Sometimes I question if I should even be a princess of Japan. If I am laying claim to something that isn't mine. Maybe I will never be Japanese enough. My throat is scratchy, and I curl my fingers into my palms. No. This is my right. I was raised in America, but my father is the Crown Prince, and Japanese values are still a deep pool within me. Entrenched in my blood. People can say what they want. That I am not enough. They can talk, but I stay silent, quietly digging deeper, pulling up my roots, satiating my thirst. "
― Emiko Jean , Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2)
15
" This need for me to settle somewhere, on something. To make some choices about my life. What is the life I've dreamed of? Growing up in America, when I was younger, I didn't see many kids who looked like me in books, in video games, on television. What I did see were stereotypes---good at math, studying, working hard. Narrow versions of myself. Now, my world has expanded. I can have things at the touch of my fingertips. But there are still rules to abide by. Princess rules. What I can do and can't. Like my major. I may choose it but within certain parameters. Does life always come with constraints? Is that part of growing up? "
― Emiko Jean , Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2)
17
" There is fresh fruit, eggs Benedict in a creamy hollandaise sauce, scrambled eggs with goat cheese, truffle onsen eggs, brioche French toast, steamed rice, miso soup, grilled salted mackerel, rice with a salty pink pickled plum on top----enough to feed an army. "
― Emiko Jean , Tokyo Dreaming (Tokyo Ever After, #2)
